Like other industrial nations in the East, Japan is a unique combination of traditional culture and Western influence. Enjoy the best of both worlds through active participation in various opportunities – games, arts and crafts, cooking and discussion. Immerse yourself in another culture.

Faculty/Instructor

Noriko  Porter,

Hometown: Kanazawa, Japan
University attended, graduation date and degree: University of Missouri, Columbia, May 2008, PhD in Human Development and Family Studies
WSU Department you are in: Human Development
Class topics you’ll teach in the fall: HD 350 Diversity in Contemporary Families, HD 406 Work and Family
Your research/teaching area of interest: Early childhood education, Cross-cultural childrearing practices, Autism intervention and treatment
Interests/Hobbies: Travel, Reading, Telling my daughter bed time stories, Anything to do with cats.
Favorite summer memory: I attended a children’s literature summer institute at Simmons College, Boston in 1985. It was a dream conference for lovers of children’s books! They invited famous authors as guest speakers such as Robert McCloskey (Make way for ducklings, Blueberries for Sal), Lloyd Alexander (The book of three), Jane Langton (Fragile flag), John Rowe Townsend (The intruder), Barbara Cooney (Miss Rumphius), and Jill Paton Walsh (Unleaving). When we had a day with Robert McCloskey as a guest speaker, for example, the reception foods are all themed with blueberries! I still couldn’t believe that such a conference existed!
Your life goal: Become a better teacher; Write a couple of books about parenting and an autobiography about my life as a parent of a child with autism
Link to the site or article about you or your work: http://hd.wsu.edu/people/norikoporter.htm

You can learn about my educational and occupational background by visiting my website above. When I was a middle/high school, I spent many hours studying like other Japanese students. Japan is known as a country that is highly competitive academically. To get into a desired college one must go through what is described as “examination hell.” I was extremely happy when I got into a good college after studying day and night during my senior year in high school.

However, I also enjoyed my social life very much! I had many good friends and often hung out with them at coffee shops, shopping malls, or music concerts. We exchanged fashion magazines, manga (comic books), and our favorite music records and cassette tapes. At that time, karaoke became very popular in Japan. As a terrible singer, I always hesitated to go to a karaoke bar but I loved listening to my friends’ singing.

One big event for me in my high school was the day I was chosen as one of the top 3 school newscaster in my prefecture. I remembered that my classmates were very supportive and made a senbaduru (a thousand origami cranes tied together on a string as a prayer for good health or good luck) for me. With the best wishes of my classmates, I did really well at the contest. I thought about becoming a newscaster for my career but after I couldn’t win at the nationals, I changed directions and here I am!